A Camping and Overlanding Coffee Setup That Doesn’t Suck
Camp coffee is bad by default, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are the four pieces of gear that actually change the cup outdoors — and the ones you can leave at home.
Immersion vs. Percolation Brewing, Explained
Every brewer you own either steeps coffee in still water or runs water through it — and that single difference explains most of why your French press and your V60 taste like different coffees. Here is what is actually happening, and which brewer to buy for each side.
Cold Brew Glass Bottles Worth Owning
Cold brew lives in its container for a week, so the bottle is not an accessory — it is half the brew. Four glass bottles worth owning, split by whether you want to brew in it, store in it, or both.
Stumptown’s Portland Roots, Revisited
Stumptown started in a shuttered Southeast Division beauty parlor in 1999 with one employee and a Ford Pinto. Here is what it actually changed, what the Peet’s acquisition did and did not do, and the three bags still worth ordering.
The Robusta vs. Arabica Supply Squeeze, Explained
The arabica price spike pushed roasters to quietly swap robusta into their blends — and now a record global crop is unwinding the whole thing. Here is what actually happened, and why “100% arabica” was never the quality claim you thought it was.
Gifts for the Coffee Snob Who Already Has Everything
They own the dripper, the kettle, and the scale that reads to a tenth of a gram. Four gifts that change a variable they have been ignoring instead of replacing gear they already chose on purpose.
Vietnamese Egg Coffee, Explained and Attempted
Cà phê trứng was invented in 1946 Hanoi because the city ran out of milk, and it outlived the shortage by eighty years. Here is where it came from, why it needs robusta and a phin, and what happened when we made it at home.
Fall Pumpkin Spice Ground Coffees, Tasted and Ranked
We bought four of the most popular pumpkin spice ground coffees on Amazon, brewed them all the same way, and ranked them. The winner is not the one we expected.
5 Coffees to Restock Your Pantry With Before Fall
Five reliable, widely available blends worth stocking before the gray mornings set in: Stumptown Holler Mountain, Counter Culture Big Trouble, Peet’s Major Dickason’s, Kicking Horse Kick Ass, and Intelligentsia Black Cat.
Why Sumatra Coffee Tastes Nothing Like the Rest of Indonesia
Sumatra is the odd one out in Indonesian coffee, and the reason is one processing step: giling basah, or wet hulling. Here is what it does to the bean, where “Mandheling” actually comes from, and two bags to brew side by side to taste the difference.